Gauge for scoring hits on targets



June 29, 1954 w. JORGENSEN GAUGE FOR SCORING HITS ON TARGETS Filed Feb. 25, 1952 INVENTOR.

GRQl/ER W v/ORGENSEN B? Patented June 29, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAUGE FOR SCORING HITS 0N TARGETS Grover W. Jorgensen, Bloomington, Minn. Application February 25, 1952, Serial No. 273,175

3 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in scoring gauges and targets for rifle and pistol target practice shooting.

Targets now commonly used for target practice usually comprise a plurality of concentric rings, the areas between adjacent rings denoting different score values. For example, the score values may range from five to ten points for individual hits of varying accuracy on a standard fifty foot target range. When the length of a target range is relatively increased, the diameters of the concentric score rings on the target must be proportionately increased in order that equal skill or accuracy on the different ranges will yield equal scores. Likewise, when the range is decreased in length, the diameter of the score rings must be correspondingly decreased.

The well-known .22 caliber rifle is'widely used for target practice and readily lends itself for use on short ranges as, for example, indoor ranges which may not be more than twenty feet in length. Present day targets utilizing a series of concentric score rings are difficult to score on such short ranges because the score rings must be placed so close together that it becomes exceedingly difiicult to accurately score a hit on such a target. Also when reducing the size of a target below a certain range length, the spacing between the score rings may be reduced to the extent that the target, when sighted by a marksman, may appear more or less blurred which may materially hamper his scoring accuracy.

According to the present invention, each given length target range requires a target of a given diameter. The targets are circular in configuration, and are preferably jet black throughout to facilitate sighting, and they have no score rings or other marking thereon. Hits are recorded by the use of a novel scoring gauge which constitutes an important feature of the present invention. It is necessary when utilizing a scoring gauge and target such as herein disclosed, that both the target and the scoring gauge be calibra-ted for use on a range ofa given length.

An important object of the present invention therefore is to provide a simple inexpensive gauge for quickly and accurately scoring individual rifle or pistol hits on a target.

A further object of the invention is to provide a scorin gauge for accurately scoring individual hits on circular rifle or pistol targets, comprising a body adapted to be positioned against the target over the bullet hole and having means thereon for quickly determining the accuracy of the hit.

A further object of the invention is to provide a scoring gauge comprising a transparent body having a plurality of like arcs thereon each representing a diiierent scoring value, which values may readily be noted When the gauge is positioned on a circular target to score a hit.

A further object is to provide a scoring gauge comprising a transparent body having means thereon for accurately locating the gauge on a target with respect to a bullet hole to be recorded, and said body also having means thereon for clearly indicating the accuracy of the hit.

A further object of the invention resides in the radial spacing and arrangement of the scoring arcs on the body of the gauge with respect to the center of the locating stud thereof, whereby when the gauge is placed against a hit target, the accuracy of the hit may readily and quickly be noted.

Other objects of the invention reside in the simple and inexpensive construction of the gauge which comprises a flat disc-like body having a locating stud projecting from its bottom face adapted to be inserted into a bullet hole in a target to accurately position the gauge thereon relative to the bullet hole; in the simple arrangement of the scoring arcs on said body; in the provision of a target which is completely void of concentric score rings and other indicia for recording individual hits, the entire area of said target preferably being black throughout to facilitate sighting particularly on short ranges; and in the provision of a magnifying lens for enlarging the scoring arcs and other indicia on said 1 body to facilitate quickly recording a hit.

These and other objects of the invention and the means for their attainment will be more apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings there has been disclosed a structure designed to carry out the various objects of the invention but it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the exact features shown, as various changes may be made within the scope of the claims which follow.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top view of the gauge showing the preferred arrangement of the scoring arcs thereon;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing the locating stud in position in the body of the gauge;

Figure 3 is a plan view of a portion of a target of the type used in connection with the present gauge, showing a bullet hole therein;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, but showing the gauge in position on the target;

Figure 5 is an edge view of the gauge positioned on a target, the target body being shown in sections to more clearly illustrate the position of the locating stud in the bullet hole in the target; and

Figure 6 is an edge view of a gauge having a convex upper surface to provide a magnifying lens.

In the selected embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, there is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a. target scoring gauge, generally designated by the numeral 2, comprising a body 3 which is preferably of circular configuration, and is made of a suitable non-breakable transparent material as, for example, Lucite. An aperture 4 is provided in the axis of the body 3 adapted to receive the reduced cylindrical end portion 5 or a locating stud, generally designated by the numeral 6. The stud 8 has an enlarged head "I at its lower end providing a shoulder 8 adapted to be fitted against the bottom face of the body 3, when the locating stud 6 is fixed in the aperture 4 of the gauge body, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2. The upper end 5 of the stud may be utilized as a finger-engaging portion to facilitate handling the gauge.

Inscribed in the bottom surface of the body 3 are a plurality of like arcs 19, ll, l2, l3, l4, and i5, preferably having their radii located on a radial line it extending from the axis of the stud 6 to the periphery of the body 3 of the gauge, as clearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 4. The radial line it is preferably inscribed in the bottom surface of the body 3, and in the preferred form is intersected by the scoring arcs It) to l5, inclusive. The radii of the arcs IS to l5 corresponds substantially to one-half the diameter of the target. A circle ll representing an X ring is also inscribed in the bottom surface of the body 3 and its diameter corresponds substantially to that of the target upon which the gauge is to be used. The ring l'. is concentric to the axis of the locating stud ii, as clearly illustrated in Figure 1.

The locating stud 6 is preferably of metal although, if desired, it may be made of plastic or some other suitable material having sufficient hardness to resist wear. If desired, it may be demountably supported in the aperture l of the body 3 of the gauge to facilitate storage when the gauge not in use. It is of utmost importance, however, that the stud 8 be firmly anchored in the body 3 for accuracy in scoring, because the paper from which the target is made may expand or stretch more or less when a bullet passes therethrough and the bullet hole may be slightly smaller than the diameter of the rifle or pistol bullet which pierced the target. This may be readily noted by reference to Figure 3, wherein the numeral 53 represents the target area which is shown having a bullet hole l9 therein which is considerably smaller than the diameter of the head I of the locating stud, when in its normal state.

When a bullet pierces a target as shown in Figure 3, it does not, as a rule, remove any of the paper of the target. It usually shoves a portion of the paper rearwardly to form, in effect, a flange, as indicated at 2| in Figure 5. This flange may be torn or slitted as indicated at 22 in Figure 3 to permit the hole [9 to enlarge sufficiently to allow the bullet to pass therethrough. Thus,

. at D in Figures 3 and l.

hit made on the target.

when the head 1 of the anchoring stud is inserted into the bullet hole, as shown in Figure 5, the flange 2| surrounding the bullet hole will frictionally engage the head I of the stud and axially locate the gauge with respect to the bullet hole in the target, as clearly illustrated in Figure 4. To facilitate scoring the hits on the various targets, the scoring arcs [0 to 15, inclusive, are shown marked with scoring values live to ten, inclusive, which represent the scoring values of the various scoring arcs.

When it is desired to score an individual hit in a target, the gauge is placed over the target as shown in Figurese and 5, with the head 1 of the locating stud entered in the bullet hole IS. The maximum diameter of the head I of the locating stud corresponds substantially to the diameter or caliber of the bullet fired through the target. After the gauge has thus been accurately placed upon the target with respect to the bullet hole ill, the body of the gauge is relatively rotated on the target until the radial line I6 intersects the periphery of the target at the point thereof most distant from the axis of the bullet hole, indicated The reading of the hit is then taken which is indicated by the value of the arc which lies nearest to the peripheral portion D of the target from the outside thereof. Thus, by referring to Figure 4 it will be noted that the are I3 is positioned slightly within the peripheral edge portion D of the target, whereby the hit indicated in Figure 3 would be given a score of 7, the score value lying between score lines i2 and I3.

In Figures 1 and l the scoring arcs are shown spaced equi-distant apart and are symmetrically arranged with respect to the radial line iii. If desired, the arcs may be otherwise disposed on the body 3 of the gauge, provided they are spaced outwardly from the axis of the stud 8 as indicated in Figures 1 and 4. They are, however, preferably arranged as shown in Figure 1, because when so arranged the gauge body may be quickly accurately positioned upon the target by simply inserting the locating stud l in the bullet hole and rotating the body of the gauge until the radial line it intersects the periphery of the target at D, as above described.

In Figure 6 there is shown a scoring gauge 23 of slightly modified construction comprising a transparent body 24 having a convex upper surface it providing a magnifying glass or lens which overlies the scoring arcs in to IE, inclusive, thereby to facilitate readingthe value of the Such a gauge is particularly desirable when firing on very small targets such as one-half inch in diameter, utilized on a twenty-foot range. The gauge shown in Figure 6 has a locating stud 25 similar to the one shown in the previous figures.

The novel gauge herein disclosed is extremely simple and inexpensive in construction in that it comprises but two parts, the transparent body 3 and the locating stud 6. The body 3 is preferably circular in configuration as shown, but it may be otherwise shaped, if desired, as obviously it will function equally as well if made square or to some other shape. The scoring arcs Hi to I5, inclusive, and also the scoring values represented by the numerals five to ten, inclusive, may readily be inscribed or formed in the bottom surface of the body 3 of the gauge, and may be colored with a light coloring matter such as white whereby when the gauge isplaced over a black target, the scoring arcs will stand out prominently thereon so that the correct reading of the hit may be quickly taken with little danger of error.

I claim as my invention:

1. A gauge for scoring individual hits in a circular target of a given diameter, a transparent body having a projection on the bottom surface thereof adapted to be received in a bullet hole in the target to locate the gauge thereon, said body also having a plurality of identical arcs inscribed on the bottom surface thereof and each spaced a predetermined distance from the center of said projection, and the radius of each of said arcs being substantially equal to one-half the diameter of the target.

2. A gauge for scoring individual hits in a circular target of a given diameter, a transparent body having a flat bottom surface adapted to be placed against the target, a plurality of identical arcs inscribed on the flat bottom surface of said body, each of said arcs being radially spaced a predetermined distance from a given point on said body, the radial spacings of said arcs from the fixed point on said body representing a plurality of different score values, and the top surface of said member being convex to provide a magnifying portion adapted to magnify that por- 6 tion of the target against which the transparent member is seated, thereby to facilitate recording a hit.

3. In a gauge for scoring individual hits on a 5 circular target of a given diameter, a transparent References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,090,930 Chubb Aug. 24, 1937 2,264,296 Clark Dec. 2, 1941 2,292,501 Wiles, Jr Aug. 11, 1942 2,417,451 Schaifner Mar, 18,1947 2,481,724 Croteau Sept. 13, 1949 2,521,087 Paulus Sept. 5, 1950 OTHER REFERENCES Popular Science, Sept. 1949, page 242. 

